Railroad journal box coolant and lubricant



United States Patent Ofii e 3,061,543 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 Ashland, Ky., assignors to Ashland Oil & Refining Company, Ashland, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky No Drawing. Filed May 17, 1960, Ser. No. 29,588 9 Claims. (Cl. 252-12) This invention relates to a composition of matter especially suitable for use as a coolant, and capable of being molded, handled and applied in stick form, for treating railroad journal hot boxes.

It is well known that the occurrence of a hot box on railway rolling stock is a matter of great seriousness for as the journal temperature increases with continued runing a bearing failure is likely to develop.

I It has become customary to service hot boxes with a special form of coolant. The coolants commonly used for this purpose are cooked grease compositions or tallow compositions. The known coolants, however, have not been entirely satisfactory due either to limitations on their cooling effects or to objectionable aspects of the storage, handling and application of them, such as in the case of grease compounds stored in buckets and applied to hot boxes by a paddle or the like.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a new coolant composition that satisfactorily meets the service requirements of cooling hot journal boxes of railroad rolling stock and is capable of being molded, handled and applied in the form of a stick or other desired shape with avoidance of the stickiness and messiness that attends the use of the conventional grease type coolant compounds.

A further object of the invention is to provide a coolant composition that gives improved lubricating and cooling effects and will cool hot journal bearings effectively from considerably higher running temperatures than known journal box coolants.

Another object is to provide an improved journal box coolant in the form of sticks or the like which are convenient to store, handle and apply under railroad service conditions.

It has been found that the foregoing and other desirable objects and advantages can be achieved, according to the present invention, by compounding into :a homogeneous mixture that is firm yet plastic (i.e., moldable or pliable), a major proportion of a normally solid, fusible 'asphaltic binder, a minor proportion of lubricating oil such as a cylinder stock, and a finely divided filler, for example, an oil-miscible inorganic filler or pigment of relatively low density, in an amount sufiicient to render the mixture shape-retaining and substantially non-sticky at ordinary atmospheric temperatures. The asphaltic binder forming the predominant constituent of the new coolant is preferably a waxy type asphalt material that is resistant to high temperatures and has good qualities of adhesion. It is preferred to use a material showing on tests by the conventional Ring and Ball method in glycerine a softening point in the range of about 200 to 210 F. The penetration of the material is preferably in the range of about 45 to 50 at 77 F./ 100 gr./5 sec. Such an asphalt material is available commercially, e.g. under the trade designation Ashland Culvert Asphal It may be prepared with the desired qualities, for example, by fluxing and mixing with an oxidized cylinder stock a straight asphalt suitably reduced in viscosity by a thinner.

The lubricating oil used in the coolant composition may be any of various cylinder stocks that will maintain an effective lubricating capacity, or lubricity, at the elevated temperatures encountered in railroad hot boxes. Parafiinic lubricating oils made from parafi ine-base crudes are especially'advantageous. Among the preferred oils are Eastern cylinder stock, which is made from Eastern Kentucky crude oil, Illinois cylinder stock and Pennsylvania type cylinder stocks.

The finely divided filler of the coolant composition is preferably an inert inorganic filler or pigment material having an oleophilic or oil-miscible quality enabling it to be mixed readily with the asphaltic binder and the oil, and having a low density or apparent density such that a relatively small proportion of the filler will give the finished mixture desired qualities of firmness or shaperetention and non-stickiness while preserving the required coherence and plasticity in the mixture. Vermiculite and substances having characteristics similar to those of vermiculite have been found especially suitable, such as actinalite, mica, and the like. Zinc oxide may also be used.

It has been found that coolant compositions possessing extraordinarily valuable cooling and lubricating qualities and readily producible in the form of sticks having the desired firmness, pliability and lack of stickiness are obtained by compounding a major proportion not exceeding about 70% by Weight of the asphaltic binder with about 12 to 25% by weight of the lubricating oil and an amount of the filler sufficient to give the finished compound or mixture the physical qualities mentioned above. The amount of the filler generally does not exceed about 20% of the weight of the mixture, and it usually is in the range of about 12 to 20%.

A journal box coolant may he prepared according to this invention with the desired cooling and lubricating qualities and in the form of sticks, for example, by:

(1) First heating the asphaltic binder, e.g., 665 parts by weight of Ashland Culvert Asphalt, to a temperature of about 250 F.; s (2) then slowly adding the lubricating oil and mixing it thoroughly into the binder, e.g., 192 parts by weight of an Eastern cylinder stock having a viscosity of 164 SVS at 212 F.;

(3) then adding and thoroughly stirring in the filler, e.g., 143 parts of vermiculite (e.g., an expanded vermiculite designated commercially as Zonalite BE350, of which the major portion passes through a No. 16 sieve and is retained on a No. sieve), until the mixture is *again homogeneous. The mixture may then be cast, molded, extruded or otherwise formed into sticks of the shape and size desired for packaging and storage and for introduction by hand into hot journal boxes.

The particular compound resulting from the example 'just described has a softening point of 204 F. (ring 'and ball method in glycerine) and a specific gravity of 1.06 at 77 F.

As an example of the effectiveness of the invention, the said compound in stick form was used to treat a test railroad journal running at 35 miles per hour under a load of 1250 lbs. After the lubricant had been removed from the journal and the temperature of the bearing had risen to 290 F. from a stable temperature of 158 F., a stick of the coolant was applied to the hot box and the waste was replaced. Thereafter, with continued running, the temperature of the bearing was found to be reduced 'as followsz 1 After 1 minute -280 F. After 2 minutes-270 F. After 3 minutes260 F. After 4 minutes-250 F. After 5 minutes266" F. After 6 minutes255 F. After 7 minutes-252 F.

After 8 minutes250 1 After 9 minutes-250 After 10 minutes242 After minutes230 After minutes-223 F. After minutes-218 F. After minutes-213 F.

The foregoing test was compared with tests using known coolant compounds, including oil-mica formulations. The tempreature of the journal was reduced more rapidly and to a greater extent by the use of our composition than with the use of the known coolant. It has been demonstrated further that the advantages of the coolant of this invention over known hot box coolants become greater with higher temperatures of the hot box at the time of applying the coolant.

Furthermore, the compositions of this invention have other important advantages over known hot box coolants, including longer storage life, greater convenience of handling and use, better adhesion qualities and better lubrication qualities at the higher bearing temperatures.

While we have set forth the principles of this invention and various particulars of preferred ways of carrying it into practice, it will be evident that numerous variations and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the substance or co'ntribution of the invention, which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

We claim.

1. A coolant composition for journal boxes, consisting essentially of a fusible, shape-retaining mixture of a major proportion not exceeding about 70% by weight of a normally solid, fusible binder consisting essentially of a mixture of an oxidized cylinder stock and a thinned straight asphalt, a mineral lubricating oil in minor proportion of about 12 to 25% by weight suflicient to enhance the lubricity of said mixture when the mixture is molten, and a finely divided oil-miscible inert filler in an amount not exceeding about 20% by weight but sufficient to render said mixture shape-retaining and substantially non-sticky at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, said mixture, upon being placed in an overheated journal box, becoming molten and acting to cool and lubricate the bearing.

2. A coolant composition for journal boxes, consisting essentially of a fusible, shape-retaining mixture of a major proportion not exceeding about 70% by weight of a normally solid, fusible asphalt-containing oxidized mineral hyprocarbon binder having a softening point in the range of about 200 to 210 F., a mineral lubricating oil in minor proportion of about 12 to 25 by weight suflicient to enhance the lubricity of said mixture when the mixture is molten, and a finely divided oil-miscible inorganic filler in an amount not exceeding about 20% by weight but sufficient to render said mixture shaperetaining and substantially non-sticky at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, said mixture, upon being placed in an overheated journal box, becoming molten and acting to cool and lubricate the bearing.

3. A coolant composition for journal boxes, consisting essentially of a fusible shape-retaining mixture of a major proportion not exceeding about 70% by weight of a normally solid, fusible binder consisting essentially of a mixture of an oxidized cylinder stock and a thinned straight asphalt and having a softening point in the range of about 200 to 210 F., a paraffinic lubricating oil in a minor proportion of about 12 to 25% by weight sufficient to enhance the lubricity of said mixture when the mixture is molten, and a finely divided filler in an amount not exceeding about 20% by weight but sufficient to render said mixture shape-retaining and substantially non-sticky at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, said filler being a substance selected from the group consisting of vermiculite, mica, actinalite and zinc oxide, said mixture, upon being placed in an overheated journal box, becoming molten and acting to cool and lubricate the bearing.

4. A coolant composition for journal boxes, consisting essentially of a fusible, shape-retaining mixture of a major proportion not exceeding about by weight of a normally solid, fusible binder, about 12 to 25% by weight of a mineral lubricating oil, and a finely divided oil miscible filler in an amount not exceeding about 20% by weight but sufiicient to render said mixture shaperetaining and substantially non-sticky at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, said binder being a mixture of a thinned straight asphalt and an oxidized cylinder stock and showing by the ring and ball test a softening point in the range of 200 to 210 F. and a penetration at 77 F. of between 43 and 50, said mixture, upon being placed in an overheated journal box, becoming molten and acting to cool and lubricate the bearing.

5. A coolant composition for journal boxes, consisting essentially of a fusible, shape-retaining homogenous mixture of a major proportion not exceeding about 70% by weight, of a normally solid, fusible asphalt-containing oxidized mineral hydrocarbon binder having a softening point in the range of about 200 to 210 F., about 12% to 25% by weight of a mineral lubricating oil, and a finely divided filler selected from the group consisting of vermiculite, mica, actinalite and zinc oxide, in an amount not exceeding about 20% by weight but sufficient to render said mixture shape retaining and substantially non-sticky at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, said mixture, upon being placed in an overheated journal box, becoming molten and acting to cool and lubricate the bearing.

6. A coolant composition for journal boxes, consisting essentially of a fusible, shape-retaining homogenous mixture of about 60 to 70% by weight of a normally solid, fusible binder consisting essentially of a mixture of a thinned straight asphalt and an oxidized cylinder stock, said binder showing by the Ring and Ball test a softening point in the range of about 200 to 210 F. and a penetration index of about 45 to 50 at 77 F., about 15 to 25% of a paraffinic lubricating oil, and about 14 to 20% by weight of vermiculite, said mixture, upon being placed in an overheated journal box, becoming molten and act'- ing to cool and lubricate the bearing.

7. A journal box coolant consisting essentially of the composition of claim 1 molded in the form of a stick suited for introduction into a hot journal box.

8. A journal box coolant consisting essentially of the composition of claim 3 molded in the form of a stick suited for introduction into a hot journal box.

9. A journal box coolant consisting essentially of the composition of claim 6 molded in the form of a stick suited for introduction into a hot journal box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,131,085 Anderton Sept. 27, 1938 2,327,752 Van der Berge Aug. 24, 1943 2,488,293 HOiberg Nov. 15, 1949 2,876,199 Wasson et al Mar. 3, 1959 

1. A COOLANT COMPOSITION FOR JOURNAL BOXES, CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A FUSIBLE, SHAPE-RETAINING MIXTURE OF A MAJOR PROPORTION NOT EXCEEDING ABOUT 70% BY WEIGHT OF A NORMALLY SOLID, FUSIBLE BINDER CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A MIXTURE OF AN OXIDIZED CYLINDER STOCK AND A THINNED STRAIGHT ASPHALT, A MINERAL LUBRICATING OIL IN MINOR PROPORTION OF ABOUT 12 TO 25% BY WEIGHT SUFFICIENT TO ENHANCE THE LUBRICITY OF SAID MIXTURE WHEN THE MIXTURE IS MOLTEN, AND A FINELY DIVIDED OIL-MISCIBLE INSERT FILLER IN AN AMOUNT NOT EXCEEDING ABOUT 20% BY WEIGHT BUT SUFFICIENT TO RENDER SAID MIXTURE SHAPE-RETAINING AND SUBSTANTIALLY NON-STICKY AT ORDINARY ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURES, SAID MIXTURE, UPON BEING PLACED IN AN OVERHEAD JOURNAL BOX, BECOMING MOLTEN AND ACTING TO COOL AND LUBRICATE THE BEARING. 